IndyCar: 3 possible landing spots for David Malukas in 2024
By Asher Fair
David Malukas has said that he will not return to Dale Coyne Racing for a third year in the 2024 IndyCar season. Where will he end up?
It’s rare yet quite refreshing to hear a driver straight-up give an honest indication that he plans to leave his current team amid a lack of desired progress to pursue other opportunities in IndyCar. That is exactly what David Malukas recently did amid a frustrating second season at Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports.
Malukas’ stock as a free agent is higher than his results this year would indicate, as he has been bitten by a recent string of misfortunate that has mired him down in 17th place in the point standings.
He was impressive as a rookie last year, finishing as high as second at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and has proven once again in 2023 what he can do when he has an incident-free race. Where will he end up in 2024?
Possible David Malukas IndyCar landing spots: No. 1 – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
David Malukas specifically used the words “bigger team” to describe his options for 2024 when discussing the possibility of departing from Dale Coyne Racing. He has well aware that he may have to leave his father Henry’s HMD outfit at some point in the near future if he wants to achieve his ultimate goal, and perhaps this is as good of a time as any.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing may not have seemed like an attractive option a few months ago. They started the 2023 season at the bottom and were the only team to field a car which failed to qualify for the Indy 500, casting doubt over whether their offseason personnel changes had paid off.
Skip ahead to mid-August, and they are suddenly a force to be reckoned with. Second-year driver Christian Lundgaard has two poles and the team’s first win since 2020 to his name, and Graham Rahal recently ended a more than six-year pole drought.
The other driver, Jack Harvey, has already been dropped as the team look ahead of to 2024. Is Malukas an option? If they want to continue moving forward and become a series power for years to come, he is an easy pick.